


We'll fight our way through life

by peacepen



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Ambiguous Relationship, Crowley low-key is paranoid because of the bookshop burning, I didn't talk about the books being changed to other things but oh well am I right, M/M, Possessive behavior over books, Post Apocalypse that wasn't, Post canon, The bookshop, a kindle, only edited once, please enjoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 17:45:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19339450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacepen/pseuds/peacepen
Summary: Aziraphale is unwilling to compromise on his books and Crowley just wants what's best."Crowley had an agenda, you see. ( Almost everyone does. Let it be known that having an agenda behind your actions is not as demonic as it sounds.) If he could get Aziraphale to take the tablet, they could get rid of some of his books and decrease the fire hazard. Increase Aziraphale’s safety and Crowley’s piece of mind (Caring for others really is a drag.)The plan was practically airtight, except for the uncooperative subject."





	We'll fight our way through life

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy! I'm sorry if anything is inaccurate I am just one man who loves the mans.
> 
> Title is taken from Small Umbrella in the rain from the Little Women musical. Crowley and Aziraphale remind me so much of Jo and Professor Bhaer it's too much to handle!

It was a rainy day, as many of the days in London were. Crowley noted the weather and grumbled to himself about whether or not his present would get wet. Hopefully not, although he could just miracle it back into working condition. There was just something about delivering a gift in the proper state that made him feel that Aziraphale would be more likely to accept it. There’s the real challenge; not keeping the damn thing dry, but getting his stubborn friend to accept it. This was not any gift, it was one that Aziraphale was sure to resist: a Kindle, a popular e-reader produced by Amazon. Crowley had an agenda, you see. ( Almost everyone does. Let it be known that having an agenda behind your actions is not as demonic as it sounds.) If he could get Aziraphale to take the tablet, they could get rid of some of his books and decrease the fire hazard. Increase Aziraphale’s safety and Crowley’s piece of mind (Caring for others really is a drag.) 

 

The plan was practically airtight, except for the uncooperative subject. 

 

  Crowley parked, exited the Bentley and approached the bookshop. 

 

He was, of course, greeted warmly. Zira beamed when he realized that the customer entering the store hadn’t been a customer at all, but Crowley. He was especially happy because Crowley had promised a surprise. 

 

“Oh, hello Crowley! How have you been?” He did not allow Crowley enough time to answer, because his attention had fallen on the lavender gift bag in Crowley’s left hand. “What’s in the bag?” 

 

“Guess.” Crowley replied with a smirk. 

 

This little game excited Aziraphale, who was expecting a gift he would actually want. He anxiously began to guess. “Ooooh...is it… macaroons? A cupcake from the bakery down the street? Oh, yes you _know_ that I’ve been craving orange creamsicle.” He salivated at the thought.   
  
“No, not quite.” Crowley scratched at the back of his neck as he berated himself for not bringing Aziraphale food along with the Kindle. Food always had him in a good mood. 

 

“Oh. Well, get on with it then. What’s in the bag?” He stepped closer, although he had been let down a bit already he was still holding out hope for some kind of pleasurable snack to be hiding in that paper bag. 

Crowley handed the bag to Aziraphale with a little bit of a guilty look, and Aziraphale quickly dug in. He was quite disappointed when he grasped a piece of technology rather than a tasty treat. 

 

“It’s an e-reader.” Crowley suggested.  

 

There was a bit of silence as Aziraphale processed the statement and the gift , and then realized that Crowley was looking at him expectantly. Well, Crowley was going to be rather disappointed with what Zira had to say. Aziraphale also had an agenda, although it was very different from Crowleys. On the opposite side of the argument, actually. He wanted to keep his bookshop as it was, forever. It was why he chased away the customers with the smells and the crazy hours. He was not about to let a  _ demon  _ get in between him and his books. Absolutely not. 

 

“A… what?” 

 

“Oh, you know? One of those Kindle things, stores thousands of books for you. They’re rather convenient, look.” Crowley pulled the tablet, which had already been unboxed and set up, out of the bag to show Aziraphale. “You just push the button an-” 

 

“No, Crowley, I know what it is. I want to know why it is here, in my bookshop. The thing that plans to do away with  _ real books. _ ” It was a great debate in the book community whether or not e-readers were worth it. Sure, they helped the decaying environment and were a much cheaper alternative, but they simply weren’t the things that bibliophiles had come to love. For a book lover, there was pretty much nothing that could compare to the rush of buying a new book. For a book  _ worshipper  _ like Aziraphale, absolutely nothing compared to the time he spent with his books. Taking one in, inspecting it, reading it and then finding it a place in his shop was like crack. 

 

“Well, I just think it’s time to cut down on the collection. You spend quite a lot of time with the books. You could spend that time finding new hobbies, instead of just having the one.” You could spend that time with your boyfriend. (Crowley was not trying to rip the books away from Aziraphale entirely, he knew he could never accomplish such a thing, he just thought it would be much better if time was spent outside of the shop. For totally unparanoid reasons.) 

 

“I have another hobby, it’s you. But perhaps I could stand to cut down a bit on the time spent at your flat.” 

  
That was just snarky. “Oh come on!” 

 

“Oh come on  _ what! _ ” Aziraphale replied testily as he began to move throughout the shop. Conflict made him uncomfortable, but he was allowed to be a bull about his pride and joy of six thousand years.  

  
  


“I just think that you’re being a little silly.”  

 

“What’s silly about it?” Aziraphale replied in a defensive tone as he shoved (we will say shoved, but it was not really a rough move. It was a respectful but angry move, because as much as he hated the thing it was still a gift)  the e-reader back into the gift bag that came along with it. “I don’t like them. I just don’t, they’re not the same as books,  _ real books.  _ Real books you can touch and smell and… and display.” He gestured to the books that filled the interior of his ‘shop’. He thrust the bag forward, clearly rejecting the present. 

 

“It’s just the same as any book, once you get over yourself!” Crowley insisted, stepping in closer to the Angel. “Just try it.” He grasped Aziraphale’s offending hand and gently pushed it back. “For me?” The last words were said in a hushed tone as Crowley met Aziraphale’s eyes in a way that was sure to fluster him. Possibly enough to accept the e-reader just to get out of such intimacy. 

 

Aziraphale floundered. The anger dissipated with everything Crowley was laying on him. The soft touch on his wrist, the murmured plea, the eyes of a snake that somehow read as a puppy in need… it was quite too much for him. He wanted to just say he’d take the thing and try it because he was getting more and more red by the millisecond. 

 

And yet, he needed to stand his ground. A relationship was made of compromises, of course, but he knew what this piece of technology would lead to, oh yes. Should he relent on the e-reader, should he  _ enjoy  _ it, he could be coerced into beginning to sell his books. Doing away with the whole shop. He simply could not let that happen. He was an  _ angel _ and he was not going to let some demon swindle him out of his book collection. 

“No.” He said, but it was weak. His speech lacked the conviction of his thought because, well, in order to speak to Crowley, he had to pay attention to Crowley. And for Aziraphale to pay attention to Crowley was to see his face and feel his fingertips and feel his resolve weaken with each millisecond. 

 

Crowley, a master tempter, saw the crack in the wall. A crack that a snake like him could slip through, if he played his cards right. He pushed on. He maintained eye contact and rolled out the charm. 

“Oh, but Angel,” He said, pulling Aziraphale’s hands to his own chest. “I just want what’s best. Think of it, we’ll download _thousands_ of your books, just the ones you want to keep with you at all times or don’t need physically in the store, of course.” Crowley let his agenda slip into conversation just a bit, “And then we can clear them out of here. You’ll have so much room, it’ll be much safer. Don’t you think? I only want what’s best for you darling. Angel.” 

The mention of removing any books from the shop was placed too early, because Aziraphale was certainly not open to the suggestion. He snapped out of his intimacy induced haze at the sign of danger to his babies and quickly took his personal space back. 

 

“No.” He snapped, turning his face away from Crowley. “I would  _ not  _ like to clear out any of my books.” Aziraphale decidedly dropped the bag on the floor and turned on his heel. “Quite honestly the fact that you’d suggest it, and right here in front of them! The  _ nerve _ !” He yelled as he scurried away into the depths of the shop, following a path carved by tall stacks and full shelves. 

 

“Well not all of them!” Crowley called, “It’s just, with so many, it’s a  _ fire hazard!”  _ but it was too late. It would take a lot more than a tablet to pull Aziraphale from his hoarding ways. Perhaps they could rent some kind of storage for the less important books. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friend Megan for listening to my crack head ramblings. 
> 
> Take your meds, drink your water and stay safe. 
> 
> Hit up my pillow fort and Tumblr with prompts 
> 
> Pillowfort: camera-bi 
> 
> Tumblr: musicalfucker 
> 
> Both are linked in my profile!


End file.
